Around Town

Discarded Treasure: NCHS Class of ’39 Yearbook Turns Up at Dump

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New Canaan’s Steve Benko was at the Transfer Station making his regular Saturday morning dump run on a recent weekend, when one of the guys who works there flagged him down. Someone had been discarding books into the bin there, Benko learned, and one of them was an old New Canaan High School yearbook that had his own (Benko’s) father pictured in it. “It was pretty neat,” Benko, New Canaan’s longtime recreation director, said on a recent afternoon from his office at Waveny House. “It was fun. He told me somebody was throwing out books and he saw this one, thought I may want it.”

He was right.

Government

New Parking Permit Fees, Fines for Late Renewals Proposed

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Parking officials are proposing modest increases to parking permit fees at municipal lots. The Parking Commission’s following set of proposed rates, supported unanimously at its March 12 meeting, requires approval from the Board of Selectmen:

 

The commissioners compared New Canaan’s rates to nearby towns. Chairman Keith Richey said he was uneasy about upping the cost of a permit more than the rate of inflation unless the town does something to “add value to the lot,” such as putting in lights or resurfacing. “I do think that we should always have an increase to reflect inflation, because there’s always inflation, and we didn’t have an increase last year because of the economy,” Richey said. Commissioner Pam Crum said she appreciated that Center School lot was increased by 10 percent, but said there’s still too large a gap between Center and the others.

Government

New Rule: Parking Ticket Appeals Will Only Be Heard If Violators Show Up at Hearing

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Saying the town has seen a steep increase in the number of motorists fighting parking tickets on frivolous grounds, officials on Thursday decided that they’ll only consider appeals when violators show up in person to fight their tickets. Most appeals take a general form of “I know I’m guilty, but …” and one major reason the New Canaan Parking Bureau is seeing so many more of them is that the letters are quick and easy to write, according to Keith Richey, chairman of the Parking Commission. The town can “dissuade people from making—how shall I put it?—not well-founded appeals, frivolous appeals, by following the state statute,” Richey said during the group’s regular meeting, held in the Art Room at Lapham Community Center. “The state statute has language in it that basically tells you that you need to show up,” Richey said. The commission voted 4-0 in favor of more literally interpreting the state statute under which it operates (it’s here, see especially Section E) and updating its messaging to those seeking a reversal or reduction in the amount of their parking tickets.

Business

SLIDESHOW: 20 Things You Only Know If You Shop and Dine in New Canaan

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New Canaanites have plenty of reasons to shop and dine locally, and those reasons go far beyond the fact that the village center has scores of independent businesspeople—retailers, restaurateurs, service providers—who work here and have had a tough go with the weather these past few weeks. Our owners-on-site specialize in their fields and offer a wide range of expertise. They support most every community event that locals associate with the town—fishing derby, Waveny summer concerts, Santa’s visit, little league, Holiday Stroll, ice cream social, Halloween Parade. It’s hard to find two important community events in a row in New Canaan that aren’t sponsored in some way by Walter Stewart’s, Karl Chevy or both. Because familiarity breeds conversation and rapport, we can come to know our local small business owners and workers better than we may at, say, out-of-town chains. The slideshow above is a testament to that strong connection—click through to learn more about some of those who make up the economic lifeblood of the business district.

Government

‘Be Kinder to the Little Man’: Parking Officials Weigh New Permit Fees

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One year after deciding to keep rates flat during what was an especially difficult period for rail commuters, parking officials on Friday night discussed the prospect of raising permit fees for next fiscal year. A central question facing the Parking Commission is whether to raise rates at Center School—a parking lot where a significantly lower rate (now $120 per year) had been introduced to serve hourly wage earners in downtown New Canaan. The strategy worked, bringing many retail and other workers’ vehicles off of Main and Elm Streets, freeing up some 90-minute spaces for shoppers and diners, commissioners said at their regular meeting. Yet some members of the Parking Commission are looking to raise Center School lot fees by a larger percentage, given its low overall rate—a philosophy that newly re-elected Secretary Rick Franco questioned. “I cannot say I am in sync with the popular thought on the Center School lot,” Franco said at the meeting, held in the Art Room at Lapham Community Center.